Focus Questions: How is a friendly letter like a story?
Part 1
With students sitting at the gathering area, enter the room waving an envelope excitedly. “I am so excited! I got a letter yesterday in the mail from my friend who lives very far away. How many of you have ever gotten something in the mail?” Give students time to share their stories about getting mail. “Would you like me to read this letter from my friend?” Take out the letter and read it to the class. When you finish, discuss what was in the letter with students.
“I have a book about a little girl who gets letters all the time from her grandfather. Listen to what they talk about in their letters.” Take time to read the book Dear Annie by Judith Caseley. “Wasn’t that so nice of her grandfather to write her letters all the time? Annie and her grandfather were pen pals. It is exciting to get things from the mail carrier.” Take time to have students share which letter they liked best. “The letters in this book were called friendly letters because they share personal stories with someone who is a friend. What are some things that you can say in a friendly letter?” Take some answers from students and write them on the board. Some examples of answers that could be on the list include:
- how you are doing.
- what activities you have done lately.
- what you are looking forward to today, tomorrow, next week, etc.
“I have a surprise for you, I talked to Mr./Mrs./Ms. _________, (this can be any teacher in your school with whom you want to partner to exchange classroom letters) and s/he would like his/her classroom to be our pen pal. We get to write a letter to his/her class!”
On a large piece of chart paper, begin writing a letter. “Okay, at the top of the paper we need to write who the letter is for. So in a friendly letter, we would write ‘Dear ________ Grade Class.’ This is called the greeting because we are greeting them. This could also be called the beginning of the letter. It would be like saying hello.
“Next is the body of the letter. This could also be called the middle of the letter. What do we want to tell the ________ grade class about our class? What have we done lately? What are we looking forward to?” Take some suggestions from the class or help them brainstorm to write the body of the letter.
“Okay, now we need to end the letter. We do this by saying ‘Sincerely, Mr./Mrs. _________’s Class (your class’s name). This is called the closing. It is the end of the letter and is like saying goodbye.” When the letter is complete, reread it to the class. “This is a great letter; I can’t wait to give it to Mr./Mrs./Ms. _________ to read to his/her class. I hope we get a letter back soon.”
Language Skills Mini-Lesson
“Let’s look back at our letter one more time before we send it. As I wrote the sentences for the body of the letter, did you notice what type of letter began each sentence? Look to see.” (a capital letter) “That’s correct. As we continue writing, we will make sure that the beginning of every sentence has a capital letter. When you write a sentence, you need to make sure your sentences begin with a capital letter, too. Let’s make sure we know which letters are capital letters.”
Write a lowercase and capital letter on the board and ask students to point to the capital. Do this several times to check for understanding. Then give a copy of Circle the Capitals to each student (LW-K-1-3_Circle the Capitals.doc) and have students circle the capital letters. If appropriate, have them write capital letters on the bottom of the page or short sentences that begin with capital letters. Collect and evaluate.
Part 2
This lesson can be completed when you receive a letter from the pen-pal classroom.
Remind students that letter writing is a form of communication. “What are some reasons you might want to send mail?” Have students respond, and then read the story Please Write Back by Jennifer Morris.
When the response letter arrives, meet in the gathering area. If it is in a small format, rewrite it on a large piece of paper prior to reading it to students so they can follow along. “Aren’t you so excited that the ________ grade class wrote back to us? Let’s read it!” Read the letter to students, reviewing the three parts to a friendly letter: beginning/greeting, the middle/body, and the ending/closing.
“Let’s learn something to help us remember the parts of a friendly letter. Everyone stand up. Put your hands on your head. This is the top of your body, and it is like the greeting of the letter because the greeting is at the top of the letter. Now put your hands on your belly. This is the middle of your body and this can be used to remember that you need a middle to your letter. We call it the body. Last, touch your feet. This is the end of your body, and it is just like the end of the letter. We call it the closing. So we have the greeting, the body, and the closing.” To help students remember, have them practice touching their head, belly, and feet as they say “beginning, middle, and end,” or “greeting, body, and closing.”
Hand out a copy of the Friendly Letter (LW-K-1-3_Friendly Letter.docx) to each student. To check for understanding, have students circle and label the parts of the letter.
Extension:
- Create a chart of capital letters as a class and post it for students to use as a reference.
- Have students draw a picture for a friend; then they can tell you what they want to say with the picture. You can help them write the words below the picture.
- If appropriate, have students draft a letter to a pen pal, whether real or imaginary. When they are finished, have them label the greeting, the body, and the closing.
